Will Prince Will Pop The Question?

The gossip magazines are in overdrive and the tabloids are buzzing with seasonal speculation that Britain's Prince William is getting ready to tie the knot, CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar reports from Buckingham Palace.

When is an invitation to dinner more than just a chance to sit down with the family? When it's the queen who does the inviting and the dinner in question is Christmas Day with the royals. News that Williams's long-time girlfriend Kate Middleton will be joining the Christmas party has set off a fever of speculation.

"It's very much a media pressurizing, saying 'Will they or won't they?' There is no need as long as she's prepared to wait for him, There is no need for him to commit to a marriage at this moment," says Ingrid Seward of Majesty magazine.

The couple met as students at a Scottish university. They have been together for five years. Unlike that other royal couple, younger brother Harry and his South African girlfriend frequently pictured rocking some royal love boat. William and Kate are discreet about their relationship. They may go to clubs together, even family weddings, but they are rarely photographed together. She has just started a new job that includes making tea. He's still in officer training and those obligations make an early wedding unlikely.

"I think it's quite possible they will get married because they seem to be incredibly close," Seward says. "But I can't see them getting married soon because William isn't settled in his life yet."

But after Prince Charles and his bride Camilla wed without a lot of advance notice, one retailer is taking no chances on losing out on what will be a lucrative souvenir market. In anticipation of an engagement, Woolworth's has the China designed and ready to go.

But the growing popularity of the young royals and the endless fascination with the doings of Diana's children ensures that even if diamonds aren't in Kate Middleton's stocking this Christmas, we will be talking about them any way.